Noisy Manhattan Helicopters Could Be Silenced By 'Stop The Chop' Bill

NEW YORK CITY — The deafening thrum of helicopter blades circling over Manhattan soon could be silenced by a new state bill.

State senators this week passed the "Stop The Chop Act" — a bill that would address a nearly 5,000 percent increase in helicopter noise complaints by reducing non-essential helicopter flights over Manhattan.

Helicopter operators could also be fined up to $10,000 a day and face actions from the state Attorney General if they create excessive noise at ground level, according to the bill's text.

The bill — which will move to the state Assembly — is the first legislative state effort that aims to curb noisy helicopters. State Sen. Brad Hoylman, who introduced the bill, said it would improve quality of life for New Yorkers fed up with helicopters that hover over Manhattan hundreds of times each week.

"Many New Yorkers can no longer work from home comfortably, enjoy a walk along the waterfront, or keep a napping child asleep because of the incessant noise and vibrations from non-essential helicopter use," he said in a statement. "And helicopter noise is not just annoying — it’s detrimental to our health and our environment."

Many New Yorkers apparently agree.

Complaints to 311 about loud helicopters have grown deafening in recent years, along with other nuisance noises across the city during the pandemic.

From 2017 to 2021, complaints about helicopter noise in Manhattan soared 4,663 percent, data shows.

The surge began in 2019, when there were 1,925 noise complaints about helicopters in Manhattan, data shows.

As the pandemic struck the next year, those jumped to 6,503 — a whopping 238 percent increase, according to 311 data.

And complaints only grew in 2021.

There were 21,720 helicopter noise complaints in Manhattan that year, according to 311 data.